Hand GHand HWith Hand
G LHO opens 1♠ and this is passed to you. What do you do?

♠ 7♠ 102

♥
A963♥ K652With Hand H partner opens 4♠, what do you bid?

♦ KQ9♦AQ83

♣ 97432♣ A52

Bidding Sequences Quiz

J1♥2♦2♠How many ♠’s does 2♠ promise, and is it
forcing?

K1NT2♣pass2♥2♣ shows the majors.
How strong is the 3♥ bid?

pass3♥

L1♠pass2♥passHow many points does 3NT show? Is it
forward-going

3NTor shut-out?

The Bridge Club Championship Races

The current standings for all competitions are in the results folder and
on the web-site. There was virtually no change again this week. The final
results are fairly certain now as a few key players have gone home for
Christmas and Alan Purdy is running out of time to get the Silver plate.

We currently have 8 people qualified for contention (30 results
above 53%) in the Gold Cup:

1Dave
Cutler1867.6

2Bob
Pelletier1797.2

3Bob
Short1784.3

4Phil Lovell1779.2

5Michael
Guin1763.2

6Kenneth Johansson 1754.4

7Alan Purdy1751.2

8Bill
Noe1747.5

The top standings for the Silver Plate (best 10) and Bronze medal
(best 5) are as follows. For clarity I have removed Dave, Bob P and Bob S who
are now pretty secure in the top 3 positions of the Gold Cup since Phil has
gone home.

Silver PlateBronze
Medal

2Lewis Berg644.52Lewis Berg337.8

5Clive
Bell 637.83Clive Bell334.3

6Phil Lovell633.86Phil Lovell328.5

7Alan
Purdy628.67Ruth Ibler327.2

8Hans
Bijvoet624.28Jim Wallington327.1

9Derek
& Gerard623.79Alan Purdy325.8

10Jan
v Koss618.410Hans Bijvoet325.1

We are
moving.

We
will be moving a soon as possible. I will let you know when the new venue is
certain. The current plan is to make a clubhouse so that we don’t
get messed about and lied to by bastards like the Mercure, Pattaya, again.

The Unassuming Cue bid yet againBoard
22 from Monday 18th

Here we go again, with a player who sometimes comes along only to
get the news-sheets (where they have been covered a lot recently) not
understanding an unassuming Cue bid. An easy 4♠ was missed.

Dealer:♠ A842Table
A

East♥
10972WestNorth(A)EastSouth

E-W vul♦ A--1♥1♠

♣ J10322♥3♥(1)pass3♠(2)

passpass(3)pass

♠ 103N♠ J

♥ KQ84WE♥ AJ653Table B

♦973S♦J1052WestNorth(A)EastSouth

♣ A974♣ KQ8--1♥1♠

♠ KQ97652♥3♠(1)pass4♠(4)

♥ -all pass

♦ KQ864

♣ 65

Table A:(1) What did you
bid with this North hand A in this week’s quiz? Any ♠ bid in this situation
is weak. This hand, with no wasted values in ♥’s, is worth a raise
to 3♠ and the way to show a sound raise rather than pre-empting is to cue
bid the opponent’s suit – the Unassuming Cue Bid.

(2)I assume that this South forgot
all about the unassuming cue bid. With 6 trumps and superb shape this hand is
well worth game opposite a sound raise.

-6052 shape is superb when
partner supports your 6-carder and the opponents bid and support your void.

Bid 3NT or
the 4-card major?Board 25 from Monday 19th

When the level is so high that you cannot safely show both your stop
for No Trumps and a four card major then you have to make a decision. The
decision for East is very similar to problem F from news-sheet 213.

Dealer:♠ 92WestNorthEast(C)South

North♥
AJ98642-3♥dbl(1)pass

E-W vul♦ 84♦pass5♦(2)all pass

♣ Q103

♠ 87N♠ AKJ3(1)What did you bid with
this East hand C in

♥ Q3WE♥ K5this week’s quiz? A similar problem has

♦K106542S♦AQJ3come up twice recently; should you
bid

♣ KJ2♣ 9873NT
with a stopper or try for a 4-4 major

♠ Q10654fit
with a double? My advice is unchanged

♥ 107and I would bid 3NT as you will go past
3NT

♦ 97and may get too high if you double.

♣ A654(2)And here we are; past
3NT and too high.

And what happened?Only one East bid 3NT. Three
pairs went to 5♦(-1) and
one bid 6♦(-2).

The bottom lines: -

-As I said in news-sheet
213: “When you have no room to show both a 4-card major and a stop for NoTrump
you have to make the decision. I think it’s usually best to opt for 3NT but it
depends upon the exact hand”.

The hold-upBoard 14 from Wednesday 20th

This is not the title of a John Wayne movie, but a simple technique
used to increase the odds of a contract (usually in No Trumps) making.

Dealer:♠ JTable
A

East♥
1087WestNorthEastSouth(E)

Love all♦ KQ9863--pass1♣(1)

♣ QJ3pass1♦pass1NT(2)

pass2♦pass2NT(3)

♠ 109432N♠ 875passpass(4)pass

♥ QJ93WE♥ K65

♦JS♦A1052Table B

♣ 1086♣ A54WestNorthEastSouth(E)

♠ AKQ6--pass1NT(1)

♥ A42pass3NTall
pass

♦ 74

♣ K972

Table A:(1) What did you open
with this South hand E in this week’s quiz? A balanced 16 count
and 1NT is clear. For some reason this South chose to make life difficult for himself.

(2)Having failed to open 1NT this
1NT rebid, showing just 12-14, is terrible. 1♠ is the only remotely
sensible bid.

(3)Partner’s 2♦ bid says
that 2♦ is better than NoTrump. South decided to make it a hat-trick of
really poor bids.

Table B:(1)Totally obvious.

Anyway, the main point of this deal is not the bidding, which is
trivial, but the play.

How should South play the hand on a ♥ lead?

There are a couple of points. South can easily set up 8 tricks (4 ♠’s, 1 ♥, 1 ♦ and 2 ♣’s) and has
the get his 9th either from a ♦ or a ♣. The first
important point is that South should duck two rounds of ♥’s and hope
that the player with the last ♥ does not have one of the missing aces. If he does not duck twice then
he has 5 automatic losers (3 ♥’s and two aces). Having taken the 3rd round of ♥’s it’s
best to try a ♦ to the ♦K but when the ♦J appears and the ♦A takes the ♦Q then it’s best to try for the ♣’s 3-3 rather than
playing West for an initial doubleton ♦J10.

And what happened? Every pair except Table A were
in 3NT; four made and three went down. At Table A
South’s play matched his bidding and he went one down in 2NT!

The bottom lines: -

-With just Axx opposite xxx in a
NT contract is best to hold up twice (and hope that the player with 4 cards
does not have an entry) if you cannot afford to lose three tricks in the suit.

The Rule of 7 – Is a simple guide when playing a Notrump contract with losers in opponents' suit and
insufficient quick tricks to guarantee the contract. The Rule of 7 is useful to
disrupt communications between opponents when their suit splits 5-2 and
similar. It states that declarer should add his card length in the suit to
dummy’s and subtract the total from seven and duck that number of times. So
here it is 7 - 6 = duck just once. However, this particular hand is an
exception to the rule as declarer cannot afford to let the defenders take 3 ♥ tricks and
so he has to duck twice.

Don’t bid
your hand twiceBoard 10 from Wednesday 20th

When you force partner to bid and he responds without jumping, then
he may have very few points.

Dealer:♠ 85

East♥
Q942WestNorthEastSouth(F)

Both vul♦ QJ94--1NT2♣(1)

♣ KQ3pass2♥pass3♥(2)

pass4♥(3)all
pass

♠ Q97N♠ AK4

♥ J107WE♥ K6

♦1075S♦863

♣ 8752♣ AJ1086

♠ J10632

♥ A853

♦ AK2

♣ 4

(1)What did you bid with this
South hand F(a) in this week’s quiz. A natural 2♠ is far too
unilateral and it’s for this sort of two-suited hand that most conventions for
overcalling 1NT cater. Playing Multi Landy 2♣ is the bid, showing
both majors.

(2)What did you bid with this
South hand F(b) in this week’s quiz? RHO has 15-17
points and partner may be bust. This raise shows a hand that was too strong
and/or shapely to double 1NT, so the equivalent of 19 + points. Bidding 3♥ with this
hand is sheer lunacy.

(3)North has plenty to go to game
as his original 2♥ bid promised no points at all.

And what happened? 4♥ went two down for a joint bottom (yes, one other N-S pair also
overbid to 4♥!). 2♥ making would have scored a joint top. The most popular contract was
1NT by East, either making or going one down; so it appears that about ½ of the field
chose not to bid with this South hand F(a).

The bottom lines: -

-When you force partner to bid
and he responds without jumping, then he may have very few points.

-In this particular scenario
where RHO has opened a strong No Trump, then this invitational 3♥ bid (sequence
L) shows a huge hand, worth more than 18 points.

-
Natural overcalls over the opponent's 1NT are simply not good enough.

-
You need a decent convention for overcalling their 1NT. I recommend Multi Landy.

BalancingBoard 13 from Wednesday 20th

Two North’s failed to balance on this deal and got a very poor
score: -

Dealer:♠ 7Table
A

North♥
A963WestNorth(G)EastSouth(B)

Both vul♦ KQ9-pass1♠pass(1)

♣ 97432passpass(2)

♠ 83N♠ KQ9654Table B

♥ 82WE♥ J754WestNorth(G)EastSouth(B)

♦J832S♦A5-pass1♠pass(1)

♣ QJ1065♣ Apassdbl(2)pass(3)1NT(4)

♠ AJ102all
pass

♥ KQ10

♦ 10764

♣ K8

Table A:(1) What did you bid
with this South hand B(a) in this week’s quiz? Pass is
absolutely correct assuming that your partner understands balancing.

(2)What did you bid with this
North hand G in this week’s quiz? In the direct seat you generally need about
11 points for a take-out double. But in the balancing seat you “borrow a king”
from partner. This hand should certainly double in the balancing seat.

Table B:(2)Most North’s got it right.

(3)A number of West’s bid 2♠ here and
so would I.

(4)What did you bid with this
South hand B(b) in this week’s quiz? You have to
remember that partner is already bidding three of your points and 1NT is
absolutely correct. To bid 2NT would be ‘hanging partner’.

And what happened? 1♠ was passed out twice and made exactly for a near top to E-W. 1NT by
South made +1. Three East’s were pushed up to 3♠ and all went down.

The bottom lines.

-Do not let LHO play in a
one level contract unless you have length and strength in his suit.

-Understand
balancing.

A good or bad 4♠ opening?Board 27 from Wednesday 20th

Three pairs got too high with these E-W cards: -

Dealer:♠ 743Table A

South♥
AQ10987WestNorthEast(H)South

Love all ♦ 5---pass(1)

♣ K974♠(2)pass4NT(3)pass

5♦pass5♠(4)all
pass

♠ AKQJ986N♠ 102

♥ 4WE♥ K652Table
B

♦94S♦AQ83WestNorthEast(H)South

♣ QJ4♣ A52---pass(1)

♠ 54♠(2)passpass(5)pass

♥ J3

♦ KJ10762

♣ 10863

Table A:(1) With good
intermediates and a 2nd suit I would open with a weak 2♦.

(2)What would you open with this
West hand? It’s far too good for 3♠ but a 1♠ opening may let the
opponents in if they have ♥’s. A four level opening is called for and 4♠ is the best bid.

(3)What did you bid with this East
hand H in this week’s quiz? It will only make slam if partner has a very good 4♠ opener and
I would pass.

(4)Having invoked Blackwood, one
should bid the small slam if there is just one ace missing. This bid
demonstrates that the previous bid was unsound.

Table B:(2)This E-W play Namyats,
so the 4♠ opening shows a weak 4♠ opening. Give the hand an 8th♠ in place of a red card and it would be worth a Namyats
4♦.

(5)And this is the beauty of Namyats. East knows that partner does not have 8 – 8½ playing tricks
(or he would have bid 4♦) and so correctly passes.

And what happened? 5♠
went down at Table A when declarer finessed the opening
♦ lead. One pair made 5♠ and one pair went one down in 6♠. The rest
sensibly stopped in 4♠, generally making exactly.

The bottom lines.

-Do not use Blackwood to try to gauge
partner’s strength. One should establish that there are sufficient values for
slam, bid Blackwood and then bid a small slam if there is just one ace missing.
To ‘chicken out’ when there is an ace missing simply means that you have mis-used Blackwood.

-Play Namyats.
Playing Namyats a 4♣/♦ opening
shows a good 4♥/♠ opener - about 8-8½ playing tricks.

How do you
play your negative doubles?Board 20 from Friday 22nd

N-S at Table A got into an inferior contract here because the individuals
played their negative doubled differently: -

Dealer:♠ A87Table
A

West♥
A109864WestNorthEastSouth(D)

Both vul ♦ 97pass1♥2♦dbl(1)

♣ A9pass2♥(2)pass3♦(3)

pass3♥(4)pass4♥

♠ Q643N♠ 5all
pass

♥ J32WE♥ Q75

♦865S♦AK10432Table
B

♣ 743♣ QJ6WestNorthEastSouth(D)

♠ KJ1092pass1♥2♦2♠(1)

♥ Kpass3♠pass4♠

♦ QJall pass

♣ K10852

Table A:(1) What did you
bid with this South hand D in this week’s quiz? Perhaps it may depend upon how
you play your negative doubles; this South apparently doubles to show the two
unbid suits. I would always bid as Table B even if a negative double did
promise both ♠’s and ♣’s. Telling partner that you have 5 ♠’s is far more important
than telling him about a ♣ suit.

(2)North did not know that South had 5 ♠’s.

(3)Do you have a ♦ stop?

(4)No.

Table B:(1)This is the best answer to question D. It
shows 5 ♠’s and is forcing (sequence J). This is a much better bid than a
negative double which only shows 4 ♠’s.

And what happened? Most pairs played in ♠’s, making 9 or 11
tricks. As it happens the ♥’s broke 3-3 so 4♥ made for a good score when an initial ♠ lead located the ♠Q for
declarer.

The bottom lines.

-5-3 fits usually play better
than 6-1 fits.

-When a major and a minor have
been bid it is best to play that a negative double only promises 4 cards in the
unbid major and says nothing about the unbid minor.

-Thus bidding the major at the
two level promises 5 cards and it is forcing (sequence J).

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A:3♥. The Unassuming Cue bid – showing a sound raise to 3♠. A direct 3♠ bid here
is best played as pre-emptive.

Hand B:(a)Pass. It’s not enough for
1NT and double would show a much more shapely hand that is short in ♠’s. You
should pass as you have a partner who will balance if necessary.

(b)1NT. Partner’s balancing
double may be a little as 8 points – he is bidding three of your points.

Hand C:3NT. This problem is very similar to problem F in news-sheet 215 and
problem H in news-sheet 213. When the opponents are up at the three level should you bid 3NT with a stop or try for the 4-4
major suit fit (and necessarily go past 3NT)? My advice is unchanged – go for
3NT.

Hand D:2♠, showing 5 ♠’s and forcing. Even if you play negative doubles to show the other
two suits (so ♠’s and ♣’s here) 2♠ is a far better bid than dbl because you have 5 ♠’s.

Hand E:1NT of course. If you open 1♣ and rebid 1♠ that does not show the strength and balanced nature of
the hand.

Hand F:(a)2♣, or
whatever conventional bid you have to show the majors. If you only play natural
methods then this hand demonstrates why you should play something like Multi
Landy – you do not want to defend 1NT and want partner to bid a major.

(b)Pass, obviously. RHO has 15-17
points and partner has promised nothing other than hopefully three ♥’s. Bidding
3♥, as one player did, shows a huge 19+ hand.

Hand G:Double. This is called balancing; you only need a shapely 8 count to
balance with a double in the pass-out seat.

Hand H:Pass. This hand will only make slam opposite a very good 4♠ opener. If
you play Namyats then pass is easy. If partner opens
a good 4♠ (i.e. 4♦ playing Namyats) then I would still only
bid 4♠ as I don’t think that it’s usually going to be good enough for
slam.

Bidding Sequences Quiz Answers

J1♥2♦2♠2♠ here promises 5 ♠’s and is absolutely
forcing.

K1NT2♣pass2♥3♥ is huge. Partner
has promised nothing for his 2♥ bid. Thus

pass3♥this 3♥ must be an very good shapely hand, too strong to double.